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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Crothian" data-source="post: 1322412" data-attributes="member: 232">“But it still itches.” Cyree said looking out over the expanse of water.    “Not this again,” groaned Roberts, the second mate of the Ragweed.    Both were members of the Ragweed crew.  Roberts was a grizzled half elf closing in on sixty years.  He’d been sailing with Cyree on the Ragweed for close to thirty of them.  Cyree was unlike any sailor he’d ever meet or heard about in that time.  She was an Avelar, a race of elves known for being superior, intelligent, and private.  In other places they are refereed to as Grey elves.  However, Cyree has little to do with her people.  She left them thirty years ago to go find herself.  And then there’s her perfectly red hair.  It’s a rare color for any elf, and with the Avelar it’s much rarer.  Neither of her parents recalls any hair of that color in either of their families.      The ship took a little lurch as the seas got a little rougher.  Roberts looked around at the busy sailors.  It was a solid half elven crew, as most of the ships in the area; the island nation of Setheron.  Not so much of a nation as a large number of small islands all inhabited by half elves.      “Roberts, what else can I do?  I thought this sailing would be the end of it.  But there’s still a part of my brain that itches and I can’t figure out why?” Cyree complained.    “Cyree, you’ve made a good sailor.  Your smart and bold, and can tell the tales of the seas with gust.  But even though in the three decades where I’ve seasoned and gotten old, you’ve barely aged.  You’re people, from what little I’ve heard, have lived many lives.  Perhaps your sea life has come to an end and your next life needs to begin.”    “But what?  And where would I go?  We’ve traveled around quite a bit in the past.  I know it’s a big world and we’ve seen so little of it all.  But at the same time it seems so big.  Argh…it just seems like I’m lost at sea and the winds blow in all directions.”    “I had a feeling of that.  That’s why I had a talk to the Captain and we’re going to take a little cruise to hopefully get some guidance.” Roberts said turning to her with a clever smile on his face.    “Huh?  There’s a place I can get answers and you’re just now mentioning it after thirty years?” Cyree asks a bit hurt.    “Well, it’s not such an easy place to get and it’s also not a place that is always there.” Roberts answered with a quizzical smile.    “You’re starting to talk like my people now,” Cyree replied with a grin.    “The place is way up north where the water freezes and becomes part of the Galcier Wall.  There are lights that shine in the late evening sky and they reflect off the ice and the water.  The lights are Pontus’ Lights.  With the right bit of knowledge they can be interpreted and give guidance.  I’ve heard a few tales about it and with some luck might be able to get some godly advice.”  Roberts answered.  Pontus is one of the thirteen greater gods.  He is master of the waters and earthquakes.      “How come I’ve never heard of these?  I thought I heard all the stories from around here?”     “Well, it’s not much known about these days.  I heard some stories when I was much younger.  I hadn’t heard of anyone going up there for quite a long time.  The icebergs are problematic there year round.  The closest port is the chroniclers of Talamar’s Island.  And the lights are a good week north of them.”  Roberts answered.      “Does the Captain mind us going all the way up there?  That is a good month out of our way. “  Cyree asked.    “You’ve done more then your fair shares these past few decades.  The Captain figures he owes you that much at least.  We’ll be docking at Coralstown and letting off the cargo and some of the crew.  Then we’ll head on up and see if Pontus speaks.  Assuming he does, I hope we’ll be able to listen to his words.” Roberts answered.    The Ragweed sailed to Coralstown.  It is one of a hundred small port town in the many islands of Setheron.  The islands used to be a small continent some people say.  There was a time of rain called the Decade of Storms a few thousand years ago.  Before this even the continent was the home to a human and elven kingdom.  But the storms left only a series of islands as all the lowlands flooded.  The two kingdoms joined as one to survive.  After many generations the islands are now populated by only half elves.  The islands are numerous and treacherous to travel.  The half elves of Setheron developed flat bottomed boats that can sail safely through the islands without running ground, but are also strong enough to sail the ocean to the larger continent of Albu.  It serves the half elves well as most of them are pirates.  They raid the bigger ships of the other empires and retreat to their islands where the other nation’s ships can not travel.  From there the Ragweed traveled north.  Cyree remained by herself for most of the journey.  She still played at being a sailor but had a lot of time by herself.  She had never done a lot with the gods and was a bit apprehensive about getting advice from one.  Still Pontus was well thought of by the sailors she’d known.  Of the thirteen greater gods she felt most comfortable with him.  The Ragweed arrived within sight of the great Glacier Wall.  It is a sheet of solid ice at least a mile high spreading from east to west horizons and beyond.  There are rumors and stories of all sorts of things caught frozen inside the ice.  And then there were the floating islands of ice.  Some the bigger then the islands the half elves were from, others small but just as deadly if ran into.  The Ragweed sailed around a bit until the night’s sky turned dark.  And then a new set of lights appeared.  They flashed in blues and purples that reflected off the ice and the water.  Roberts brought out a book of notes and spent a few hours under Pontus’ lights.  The lights played in the sky bouncing from star to star, both near and far.  There were some flashing across and others taking there time to dart across the sky.  And the reflections seemed to almost have a mind of their own.  Cyree looked on amazed at the show.  She had not seen anything like that, not even from her home paradise of Kelendar.  The light show went on for hours.  All the while Roberts made notes in his books and consulted pages of writing.  The sailors looked on in amazement.  Morning came on quickly.  The lights faded as the sun rose in the eastern sky.  Roberts gathered his notes up as the ship turned southward.   Cyree just watched in amazement the hours of lights still bouncing around her memory.  A few days later Roberts meet with Cyree in her cabin.  “I think I have the message of it all here.  There may be a few items that have been translated wrong.  But the obvious points I think I got right.”“Great, so what does Potus have to say about me?” Cyree asked with insistence.“Go south.” Roberts answered.  “Huh??  We had like six hours of lights and reflections and refractions and all you got was go south!?!  You spent three days interpreting those lights and all you got was go south?!” Cyree exclaimed.“Well, I never said I was an expert at it all.  There seems to be something about a second light and water creatures from the sky.  There is a sense of movement involved in all of this; a period of darkness followed by a war.  Or perhaps it’s a flood of water flowing over the islands.  There’s a change coming to the status quo, at least for you.  I got the sense it was happening over a great period of time.  I’ll be long dead by then, but you might actually have grown into a full adult by then.  Or perhaps have aged more.  I get a great sense in time and travel.  But starting south was the most obvious sign.”  Roberts stated.  “Then south it is.” Cyree said with a sigh.</blockquote>

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